Guitar virtuoso Chris Impellitteri has been leading his band Impellitteri now for quite some time going all the way back to the late 1980's, and Wake the Beast culls together some of the best songs from the many albums released between 1987 and 2010 across 3CDs and 33 songs in total. While many musicians have come and gone through the ranks of Impellitteri, vocalist Rob Rock and bassist James Amelio Pulli have been pretty constant fixtures in the band over the years, with singers Graham Bonnet and Curtis Skelton filling in for Rock when he was off doing other things.
Plenty of strong songs to choose from over the catalog of Impellitteri, and Chris has done a great job of bringing some of the best to this collection for those new to the band. Seeing as Rock is the vocalist with the most time spent in the band, Wake the Beast leans heavily on songs from those albums he has recorded on. "Victim of the System", "Power of Love", "Rat Race", the incredible "Lost in the Rain", "Wicked Maiden", and "Warrior" are just a few of the shredding heavy metal tracks here featuring the potent skills of Rock on lead vocals. If anything, the legendary Bonnet is under-represented here, especially considering the first Impellitteri album he appeared on, 1988's Stand in Line is still the best selling album in the catalog. Just two tracks from that album, "Stand in Line" and "Secret Lover" appear here, as well as three songs from System X from 2002. Regardless of who is singing, the guitar work of Chris is front and center, wicked riffs everywhere and no shortage of speed-of-light shredding leads. Back in the day, there was always a bit of competition between Impellitteri and Yngwie Malmsteen as to who was the faster neo-classical shredder...I think Chris probably had the edge when it came to speed, as well as crafting riffs, though Yngwie always seemed to be more fluid and precise to my ears.
All in all, Wake the Beast is a great set for those new to Impellitteri, or maybe those that haven't tracked down all their releases over the years. Not only do you get some of their best songs, but also some cool rarities, b-sides, and Japanese only tracks. Nice set!
Track Listing
Disc: 1
1 Victim of the System
2 Perfect Crime
3 Power of Love
4 When the Well Runs Dry
5 17th Century Chicken Pickin'
6 Spanish Fire
7 Rat Race
8 Lost in the Rain
9 Father Forgive Them
10 Hungry Days
11 Eye of the Hurricane
Disc: 2
1 Texas Nuclear
2 Speed Demon
3 On and on
4 Stand in Line
5 Secret Lover
6 Fly Away
7 Warrior
8 Hold the Line
9 The Young and the Ruthless
10 Ball and Chain
11 Wake Up Sally
Disc: 3
1 Wake Me Up
2 Falling in Love with a Stranger
3 Rock & Roll Heroes
4 Anti-Social Disease
5 Burning
6 Freakshow
7 Wicked Maiden
8 Garden of Eden
9 Propaganda Mind
10 Stand or Fall
11 I'll Be with You
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